Failed SSD

I bought 2 Crucial SSDs (RealSSD C300) in 64GB and 128GB. They are installed in my Dell i7 tower. The 128 has Win7 and the 64 has 3 linux distros. Both worked well initially and the 128 is still working. However, about 8 months ago, I began to have problems on the linux side with freezes and stalls shortly after booting. These were intermittent, sometimes happening 4-5 times in a row and sometimes OK for days. Initially, I did not suspect the SSD and tried many software tweaks. Eventually I concluded it was a hardware problem; either the SSD, the graphics card, or something... The Crucial SSD came with firmware 6, but I flashed it to 7. I checked the SSD with linux smartmontools, but it reported OK. Finally, the freezes & crashes became even more common. These were hard freezes that required power-button restarts...not good!

The SSD was installed properly and the linux TRIM feature enabled from the beginning. As I said, it worked fine initially. Finally, I took the Crucial 64GB out and put another SSD in its place. I formatted that SSD in the same way and put images of my linux distros on it. These were NOT new installs, but images of the OS that were on the Crucial. The machine works fine now. No more freezes, so it seems the Crucial 64GB was the cause of the freezes.

These SSDs were purchased on 3/18/2011. That was over 2 years ago. I first thought, well Crucial will never do anything about this, so just write them off and never buy from them again. However, I have used Crucial Ram for years almost exclusively and never had an issue with either the Ram or the company. So I'm hoping that this was just a rare defective item and that Crucial might stand up about it. Anything I can do about it?

Re: Failed SSD

I did contact customer service and was impressed with their professional response. They are sending out a replacement drive. As mentioned, I've bought lots of Ram from Crucial and never had a bad stick! I'm glad I posted rather than just fuming. Defects can happen, but companies that stand behind their products get high marks!